Mallory Spruce and the Mystery of the Brass Bells
by raspberri
Summary: A young teen, apparently living a very normal life, stumbles upon some mysterious brass bells which change her - and her life - forever. Please review! Also please remember that this is only the first chapter!
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: I know that this is a slightly odd note on which to begin my story, but please do not chide me for putting my writing in the wrong category. My stories unfold. They are not already fabricated, rather they flow. One word leads to the next and before I know it there is a plot and characters and so on. Also, please don't mind if I get a little lavish on the descriptions. The Power of the Pen judges, (Power of the Pen is a writing competition in Ohio for seventh and eighth graders), always commented on my descriptions. One more thing before you read on: this is based on Nancy Drew, my favorite teenage sleuth. Yes, I read the books when I was about ten, but she is still the coolest woman in mystery history. (No rhyme intended.) And, since you will soon be wondering where the mystery is, I'm going to tell you one thing: It'll unfold. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy these chapters, and may I keep you pestering me for more writing!  
  
-- |[Emily]|--  
  
Disclaimer: Yes I have to do this. The characters in these stories – actually, everything in these stories (Now I know some people are going to say, "You mean the word 'if' (for example) belongs to you?" No. You very well know what I mean!) Please respect my rights and my ideas. Writing is a talent, but it comes with work and dedication. If you like the idea of "owning" a story, write your own! No matter how much you think that you are lacking in skills, believe me, you aren't! Inspiration can come from anywhere. Literally!  
  
Foreword: Thank you.  
  
Mallory Sprenger and The Mystery of the Brass Bells  
  
Chapter One  
  
I looked lazily in the mirror. Today was not exactly a good day on the hair front. My honey locks, straight, may I mention, were thrown casually into a medium-height ponytail. The only problem was that the shorter layers in front kept falling out. It didn't really matter, I was just going to school, another seven hours in teenage prison…….  
  
I ran downstairs and grabbed and apple, Granny Smith, of course. Those yucky red ones always gave me stomach aches.  
  
"Is that all you want?" My mom, Kerry, called to me.  
  
"Yea mom, I'm on a diet remember?"  
  
"Oh, your diet!" She replied jokingly. She, of all people, as petite and skinny as can be, didn't believe I could stay on a diet.  
  
"You know," she continued, "you don't even need to be on that diet. You're five foot ten, fourteen, and only one hundred and twenty pounds."  
  
"Mom! You know I want to be a model!"  
  
"Honey…."  
  
Of course, she would try to talk me out of it again. It was my one dream, to be a model. I knew that I was tall enough. I was always looking through magazines for the latest trends in clothes and makeup. I was getting good at makeovers, too. Just give it up, mom. Someday she would have to take me to an agency.  
  
I grabbed my overly heavy backpack and jogged out the door. The bus pulled up just as I reached the end of my driveway.  
  
"Here Mallory!" It was my best friend Kylie Watson.  
  
"You look fab!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks," I replied, sitting down in the seat across from her.  
  
"So, how was Jake last night?" Jake Orville was Kylie's boyfriend. Last night they had gone to Luiggi's Pizzeria, the hottest spot for casual dates and hanging out.  
  
"So hot! We were holding hands like the whole time and he even hugged me at the end!" She seemed really happy.  
  
"Awesome!" I exclaimed, wishing that I had a boyfriend. The only problem was that a very small minority of the boys in the eighth grade were taller than me. It wasn't as if I wasn't pretty, I had clear skin, a great figure with all of the "attributes," and big, blue eyes with long lashes.  
  
I pulled my portable CD player over my ears and listened to the soft music for the rest of the bus ride. As the bus pulled into the school, I watched the hundreds of students at Ulysses Junior High flock inside. I got up, walked off the bus and strode gracefully into the building and to my locker.  
  
Waiting there for me were Hiram and Jack, or "Dumb and Dumber."  
  
"Hey babe!" They greeted me. They were always with each other, like leeches, working to make everyone's lives miserable. This semester, however, they seemed particularly focused on me.  
  
"Buzz off!" I screeched!  
  
"We just want some love!" It was Hiram.  
  
"In your dreams losers!"  
  
"Come on!" Jack put his face in mine. He was so close that I could smell his breath. Believe me, it was not pleasant.  
  
I grabbed my books, slammed the door to my locker and left. They couldn't follow me to my first period class, I had Mr. Fields for English and they, well, I didn't really care who they had.  
  
I slid into my seat a couple minutes before the bell rang. I was always early, unlike most of the class. There were usually only a few kids (can you say Science Club?) in the room when I arrived. However, being early always worked to my advantage, besides getting my work in on time, and done with a considerable effort, it helped me stay on Mr. Fields' good side. I've experienced as an onlooker what his bad side is like, with no intention of seeing it firsthand.  
  
"Brrrring!" The bell's shrill noise drew me out of my thoughts.  
  
"Welcome, class," Mr. Fields deep voice boomed out in the tiny room, "As you know, tomorrow your Projects on 1984 are due."  
  
This statement produced a groan from the class.  
  
"But, on a lighter note," I shivered in the chilly room as he droned on. "we have finished our last novel for the year."  
  
Yes! I could have danced. It seemed as if we had read a thousand – all followed by essay tests and huge projects. But I knew that the torture was not over, even though it was the beginning of May, with only a little over a month left in school.  
  
"Our next adventure," he was trying to be funny, "will be an individual," more groans, "research project on the English literature author of my choice. I will be assigning your topic tomorrow following presentations."  
  
I sighed. How much more right could I be? For the remainder of the class we had time to finish up out projects. The bell rang and I scurried to Algebra.  
  
The other three periods before lunch were quite monotonous, even Hiram and John didn't bother me. I nearly slept through Science, and then uttered maybe one sentence in Spanish.  
  
I walked back to my locker to grab my lunch and put away my books. As usual, Kylie was waiting there to walk with me to lunch. On the way we grabbed Jake and a couple of our other friends.  
  
"So," Kylie says, as if we had only been apart for a matter of minutes, "Jake and a couple of the guys, well, girls, too, are going down to Luiggi's on Friday. Wanna come?"  
  
"Sure!" I laughed. Friday was tomorrow. I was looking to meet people, possible boyfriends, and Mallory knew it.  
  
I finished up my lunch and headed to sixth period. Only three more hours and I could go home!  
  
The rest of the day flew by pretty fast. I scrambled onto the bus, and headed toward the back. To my surprise, Kylie wasn't there, but instead, there sat Hiram and Jack.  
  
"You again!" I was flustered.  
  
"Hey! You kids back there got a bus pass?" The driver shouted back.  
  
"We're going to our cousin's house because we found out that…" Jack foundered.  
  
"Our mother…umm…she hurt her ankle. Yea." Hiram finished it for him.  
  
"I'll let you go this time, boys, but next time you're not going to be so lucky," the driver called back.  
  
Hiram and Jack were laughing. Jack sneered at me and mouthed "betcha couldn't do that!"  
  
I turned my head away from their hideous faces.  
  
"You doing anything Friday night?" It was Hiram.  
  
"Ew! Even if I weren't I wouldn't do anything with you!" I wanted so badly to smack him.  
  
"Awwww…..baby's got a date!"  
  
"I'm just hanging out!" Why couldn't they just give up?  
  
Luckily we had reached my stop. The leeches must have had a destination because they didn't follow me.  
  
I ran inside my house. I couldn't wait until tomorrow night! I'd have to call Kylie and ask her what to wear. I hoped that I would meet someone. Ulysses Junior High was a big school, and Kylie had lots more connections than me. Maybe she had found the perfect guy! After all, she does know everything about me…..  
  
I shivered with excitement at the thought. 


	2. Luiggi's

Author's Note: Hello, faithful readers! Here's chapter two! I'm so happy, this story is progressing really well. I think that it is flowing easily because I like the characters and I am really getting to know them. So, please, please review! I would love to read your comments. Thank you all so much!  
  
Mallory Sprenger and the Mystery of the Brass Bells  
  
Chapter 2  
  
I walked into Luiggi's. As usual, it was bustling with people. I could barely hear Kylie shouting at me from where the table was because of the din.  
  
"Geez!," I shouted when I reached the table, "Could it be any louder in here?"  
  
"Well, since you're shouting it now officially is!" I laughed. Kylie was always joking. That was one of the reasons she and I were such good friends.  
  
Kylie continued, "Hey, well everyone, this is Mallory Sprenger. Mallory, meet everyone. This kid here," she pointed to Jake, "well, you know him. This is Matt…" she continued around the table. There was a total of ten of us, five girls and five boys. It seemed that everyone was couples, Matt and Janie, Jules and Joey, Kara and Andy. The boy who didn't have a girlfriend was Cameron, or Cam. I caught Kylie's eye, then looked at Cam. She winked at me and then sat down.  
  
I knew exactly what she had in mind. I squeezed in between him and Janie. It was a little awkward because he, also, knew that Kylie was trying to get him and I to hook up.  
  
"Hey," he said, calmly, holding out his hand.  
  
"I'm Mallory, as you probably figured out," I replied.  
  
"Cam."  
  
"So, you play any sports?" It was a good icebreaker if you were talking to a guy. They love sports. Get them on the topic and they'll talk for hours.  
  
"Football, basketball, baseball and lacrosse."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"You?"  
  
"Umm…no." This wasn't true, but all I did was horseback riding. He didn't need to know that. Most boys, I'd found, weren't interesting in riding, or just plain afraid of horses. (Tough, eh?)  
  
"So what's your favorite baseball team?" I was asking all of the questions. Even if we had started out okay, it was all going down from here.  
  
"Yankees."  
  
"Oh yea, they're good."  
  
I smiled and started to talk to Kylie.  
  
"What are we ordering?" I had to shout again, she was sitting on the other side of the table.  
  
"Ummm….guys! What do y'all want?"  
  
"Plain!" I shouted, in unison with Cam. We both blushed. Hey, cool, we had something in common.  
  
I looked at him again. He was kind of cute, clear skin, dark amber eyes, and dark brown hair. He even had those cute freckles! When he smiled, his cheeks dimpled. Okay, so he was really cute! I laughed to myself.  
  
"Since we have the plain lovers over there, how about we get plain?" Kylie spoke out.  
  
The group agreed and soon our order was taken. I ordered a Diet Coke along with my pizza.  
  
"Yuck Diet!" Kylie shouted when she heard me order. It seemed like the whole restaurant turned around. She blushed and our table became quiet.  
  
"Your point?" I asked.  
  
"You already so skinny!"  
  
I glared at her. She very well knew I wanted to be a model.  
  
"Okay, okay." She backed down.  
  
"So, what else do you like in the way of food?" Cam had gotten over his shyness, well, okay, maybe.  
  
"Umm….I'm not much of a big eater, but," I immediately regretted the statement. I should just be myself, and I love food. I continued, "I really, really like Mitchel's Cookies and Cream Ice Cream."  
  
"Mitchel's? What's that?"  
  
"Only the best ice cream in Cleveland! Wait, don't you know about it?"  
  
"No, I'm kind of new."  
  
"Really? Where'd you move from?"  
  
"New York."  
  
"New York City!?"  
  
"No! No, just outside of Albany. I don't like big cities."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
Now I know what you're thinking, you're saying to yourself, "Cleveland, I thought that that was a "big city." Yes, you were right. We didn't live in Cleveland, we lived outside. In fact, very far outside, approximately a one half hour drive. I mean, our town was so small it wasn't even on the weather maps on the local news station!  
  
"Do you like it here, then?"  
  
"I'm still kind of getting to know it, I guess, but I'm liking what I've experienced." He flashed a perfect smile at me. Oh my God! Those dimples! He was definitely cute. I had made up my mind. Totally.  
  
"That's cool." The pizza had arrived.  
  
"Dig in!" Kylie shouted, always the motivator.  
  
I grabbed a small slice and started daintily eating it. I noticed, that by the time I had finished, Cam had already eaten two pieces.  
  
"This stuff is great!" He said.  
  
"I agree."  
  
"You know what? I think we should get together more often."  
  
"Really?" Was it the food?  
  
"Yea, how about you and me go see a movie next Friday. It's the only day I don't have practice."  
  
"Sure, sounds great!" I had a date! For once! I was so happy, I could hardly wait to tell Kylie.  
  
The couples started to leave as soon as the pizza was gone. Kylie came over to me, her arm looped through Jake's, who was looking the other way, getting anxious to leave.  
  
"So, how was it?" The anticipated question.  
  
"Ummm…."  
  
"Is that all you have to say? C'mon, you and Cam did talk an awful lot."  
  
"Yea."  
  
"Are you sure that he didn't ask you, let's say, a certain something?"  
  
"Okay, okay," I broke down, "He asked me to go to the movies on Friday and I said yes." It came out in a split second.  
  
"Oh, oh, oh, oh! She squealed with excitement.  
  
"I have a date!"  
  
"You have a date!"  
  
I hugged her, with Jake looking a little puzzled, but still undisturbed.  
  
"Wait a sec, I don't even know his last name or number!"  
  
"Here." She scribbled something on a napkin and handed it to me. "Got to run!"  
  
I didn't even see her leave because I was too busy looking at the napkin.  
  
"Cam Doland," it read, "281-4425." 


End file.
